Bible Study Verse:

II Corinthians 5:17-19

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! All this is from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to Himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them. And He has committed to us the message of reconciliation. (NIV)

Thoughts:

I blew it! Absolutely, 100%! Blew it! I was out turkey hunting a couple of weeks ago, waiting to get a shot off at a tom. We'd had some pretty bad weather--sporadic temperatures--and the birds' patterns seemed to have gotten thrown off. So rather than sitting there enjoying watching turkeys in the mornings and evenings, it seemed as if I was lucky to see anything. After several unsuccessful hunts, I was in my blind and just about ready to wrap up another morning of seeing practically nothing.

I looked over to my left and there were six toms coming out of the woods, headed right for me. It had been so long since I'd seen one, I couldn't believe my eyes. I got my gun up as quickly as I could and waited for them to meander in front of me. Sure enough, they did! At about 30yd, I finally got one of the toms to separate from the group a bit so I could get a clean shot off without taking down any of the others. As I pulled the trigger, I was looking forward to finally having a successful hunt.

Well, the shot resounded across the field, and all six birds flew up in the air and went right over my blind as part of their escape route. I felt numb and stunned! All I can tell you is that the rest of that weekend, I found myself ruminating on the idea that I needed a second chance! I had completely blown it! (Dave M)

Action Point:

The great thing about being a Christian is that we serve a God of second
chances! We serve a God who believes in forgiveness and reconciliation! Maybe you've absolutely blown it: you ignored a chance to speak a word of encouragement to someone who needed it, missed an opportunity to witness to someone who needed to hear the gospel, you got angry over something that in hindsight was petty, the business deal wasn't exactly up front, and in the end, you flat out didn't do the right thing. Go directly to God today and ask Him to forgive you. Ask Him to reconcile the situation. We all blow it. But, God is ALWAYS there, willing to forgive if we are truly repentant. Humble yourself before Him.

Sportsmen's Tip Of The Day:

Range finders are a great investment! They give you the necessary information about how far away an animal is and whether or not you should be shooting.